Around one-quarter of domestic violence and intimate partner
violence was directed at children

According to Statistics Finland's data, there
were 6,900 victims in domestic violence offences recorded by the
police in 2014, which is 6.4 per cent down on the previous year. Of
victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence, 69.0
per cent were women. However, good one-half of aggravated assaults
were directed at men. Of suspects of domestic violence and intimate
partner violence, 22.6 per cent were women. Close on one-quarter of
victims were underage.

Victims of domestic violence and intimate partner
violence by sex in 2010 to 2014

Slightly under one-half of recorded domestic violence and
intimate partner violence is violence between married or cohabiting
couples. Close on one-fifth of domestic violence and intimate
partner violence took place between former married or cohabiting
couples. In around 80 per cent of cases of violence between married
or cohabiting couples, or former married or cohabiting couples the
victim was a woman. In this statistics, persons are considered
former cohabiting couples if they have lived together in the year
preceding the statistical reference year but not in the statistical
reference year.

Of all recorded domestic violence and intimate partner violence
cases, around two-thirds were assaults and one-quarter petty
assaults. Around two per cent of all cases were sexual
exploitations of a child. Of the suspects, close on one-half were
under the influence of alcohol or some other intoxicant at the time
of committing the offence. Around 55 per cent of domestic violence
and intimate partner violence took place between persons living in
the same household.

Underage victims

The law reform, which entered into force at the beginning of
2011, considerably increased the number of recorded assault
offences. After the legislative amendment, petty assaults on minors
or close relatives became officially prosecutable. The amendment
also seems to have increased the proportion of women as suspects of
domestic violence and intimate partner violence. In 2010, the
proportion of women suspected of domestic violence and intimate
partner violence was 19.3 per cent, and in 2014 the corresponding
proportion was 22.6 per cent.

Around one-third of violence directed by parents at their
children is carried out by women. The share of violence performed
by women is, however, the higher the younger the child victim is.
In cases where the victim is under six years old, the suspect was a
woman (the child's mother) in 33.7 per cent of cases. When the
victim was aged between 15 and 17, the suspect was a woman in 28.2
per cent of cases. The absolute numbers are relatively small, so
even the slightest changes can have a big effect on percentage
changes.

Violence directed at underage children by their
parents 2014

Victim's
age/suspect's sex

Male

Female

Person suspected total

Number

%

Number

%

Number

0 - 6

398

66.2

203

33.7

601

7 - 14

464

62.8

274

37.1

738

15 - 17

112

71.7

44

28.2

156

Underage, total

974

65.1

521

34.8

1 495

Repeatability of domestic violence and intimate partner
violence

In 2009 to 2014, there were slightly more than 3,000 victims of
domestic violence and intimate partner violence that had been
victims of the same in at least two different years. Of these
victims, around 80 per cent were women. There were 340 underage
persons that had been victims in several years.

A person can also become the victim of domestic violence and
intimate partner violence several times in one year. In 2014, there
were 6,900 cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence
with 5,800 different victims. Around 800 of the victims were
persons, who had been the victim of domestic violence and intimate
partner violence more than once in 2014.

The age and sex distribution of victims of domestic violence and
intimate partner violence differs from the general age and sex
distribution of victims of violent offences. In 2014, the victims
of domestic violence and intimate partner violence were women in 69
per cent of cases, while, in general, the victims of violent
offences were women in 44 per cent of cases. Only among victims of
domestic violence and intimate partner violence aged under 15, the
victim was a man more often than a woman. In general, the victims
of violent offences are more often men than women. Further
information can be found in the appendix table.

Data material

The domestic violence and intimate partner violence data has
been formed based on register data. Information about domicile,
family status and children, parents, spouses and registered
partnerships have been combined for the victim and suspect from
Statistics Finland's data. It has been established whether the
victim and suspect are cohabiting based on family status and
domicile data. The register data are from the statistical reference
year. The data also takes into consideration cases where the victim
and suspect have been cohabiting in the year preceding the
statistical reference year. All offences that were reported in the
statistical reference year are included, so the offence can have
taken place in a previous year.